'Re-imagining the social in South Africa: Critique and post-apartheid knowledge', edited by Heather Jacklin and Peter Vale

As apartheid ended, why did the country’s season of questions end? Why did intellectual input shift from critique to subservience? Why have common-sense explanations of the social world of South Africans replaced searching questions? Why did critical thinking become an indecent activity?

This revolutionary volume seeks to revive the tradition of intellectual argument that marked apartheid’s final years. The questions above, and others, are at the heart of this book, which brings social theory to bear on social practice to disrupt received conceptions and representations of the social in the post-apartheid South Africa. The contributors – all leading intellectuals in South African academy - offer a very learned, thought-through and thought-provoking treatment of this issue.

Re-imagining the Social in South Africa aims to revitalise thinking on twenty-first century South Africa, by positioning the humanities, especially its critical spirit, at the very centre of the national conversation.

ABOUT THE EDITORS:

Heather Jacklin is a senior lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her research interests relate to understanding teaching as a practice and the social justice implications of practices within the field of education.

Peter Vale is Nelson Mandela Professor of Politics, Rhodes University, South Africa. His interests include social thought in South Africa, critical theory and the future of the Humanities. Most recently, he has published on social theory and Southern Africa security, the Cold War thought and the origins of international relations in South Africa. Currently, he is working on a book on cartoons and South African foreign policy.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Ivor Chipkin, John Higgins, Heather Jacklin, Premesh Lalu, Michael Neocosmos, Bert Olivier, Suren Pillay, Richard Pithouse, Nick Rowe, Theodore R. Schatzki and Peter Vale.

REVIEWS:

‘For the first time since 1994 we have a book that allows us to ask fresh questions about state power … In one place, the skilled editors assemble the leading intellections in South African society to take on questions … This brilliant compendium of critical writing unsettles knowledge and power in equal measure.’ – Jonathan Jansen, Vice Chancellor, University of the Free State.

* Re-imagining the social in South Africa: Critique and post-apartheid knowledge edited by Heather Jacklin and Peter Vale is published by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press (ISBN 13: 978 1 86914 179 0).
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